PLEASE can you help me to estimate

[IWillTakeTheBlame]

how much to budget for painting?
I am planning to paint the whole house and have very small budget. I cannot do physical work due to health problem but found someone (not professional) who charges £100 per day.

I am trying to work out how many days ONE person will need to do the following:

a) Rip off wallpaper in two rooms plus small hall/stairs. (need anything done after this and before painting?)

b) Paint 3 bed semi. Living area, (kitchen-ceiling only), small hall, stairs, small landing, 3 rooms (one of them tiny).

If it makes difference it will all be one colour -white- and my house does not have ceiling details (straight, plain box).

Pleaseeeee lovely ladies can you help? How many days this should take?

Why are you stripping off the wallpaper? Can't you paint over it?

Stripping wallpaper and making good the walls for painting afterwards is time consuming - can't tell how long without seeing state of the walls beneath paper!

the stripping and preparing the walls could take a good few days.

esp if they're like our walls, where stripping the paper damaged the plasterboard underneath and it all needed skimming before we could paint :-S

random estimate i reckon a good 10 days

Thank you so much for replying.

I thought i must strip it off.
Will it work with white colour? (painting over wallpaper)

Ok if i paint over wallpaper on those rooms/areas how many days for the whole job?

10 days ?
Is that if i strip wallpaper?

If it's in good shape you can paint over it. May need a few coats in white if the wallpaper is dark/patterned. How many will depend on the coverage of the paint you use.

Assuming it's all just painting and you have to do no more than two coats (and the house is not too big) then I reckon you could just about do it in 6-8 days. However I don't expect someone who charges £100/day to be massively quick or efficient so I wouldn't be surprised if it took 10 days.

Haven't you asked him for an estimate of how long it will take?

well it took dp more than a day to strip our small bathroom.
then you need to prepare the walls and paint.

so yeh, 10 days at least i reckon. it's a big job for just one person

No, have not asked him yet, i thought i will ask mnetters first.

One wall is dark purple, the rest are light colours.

Can i be greedy and ask one more question?
How many coats should do and how many litres of paint i need to buy? Is it gloss emulsion i need?

I think i will paint over. Unless there are serious cons?

Can't tell you exactly! Paints vary considerably in their coverage. Look at the yield it says on the tin - in general the lower the number of sqm per litre the fewer the coats needed.

Otoh, more, thinner coats give a better result ime. They do take longer though. If you want a gloss finish then I would make them thinner. If you want matt, then it's more forgiving and you can probably get away with fewer thick coats.

I would try to agree a price for the job instead of daily.

I had a rental property done for £800 similar property. Team of three. Five days.
Which at £100 per person per day would be £1500 not sure you are going to save money.

There was no way you could have painted over what we found beneath our wallpaper, so I really wouldn't strip it off if you're on a budget.

We're painting a 3 bed semi right now, and I'd say 10 days would be pretty good going for everything you want doing. Two coats of matt emulsion would be the minimum, but I doubt that would be enough to cover a purple wall or any big/dark wallpaper patterns.

Are you planning to leave out the woodwork (skirtings, doors and door frames, windows)? If not then bear in mind that new white walls might make it look dirty/tired. If you want it doing, that will take much longer (including the prep), and therefore cost you more ££, sorry. If you're going to leave it, it might be safer to paint the walls cream, as it won't show up old gloss so much.

Can you rope in friends/family with promise of food? My experience is that lots of people are willing to lend a hand for half a day or so if you offer them a decent barbecue/lasagne type meal afterwards.

Thank you. I'll cross my fingers tomorow and get back to him to negotiate and arrange it.

Lynli's point about the fixed rate is a really useful tip. Day rates aren't always an incentive to speed.

Just seen Lynli's and heartsease posts. Thank you both very much, very good points.
Yes i would prefer a fixed price for the whole job, this is why i asked here, i am trying to work out what would be reasonable/fair. I must say i was optimist and seems i had underestimated it.

Heartsease, unfortunetely our friends work 6 days a week plus raising children and i wouldn't expect them to help. Sign... i need to rethink the whole thing.

Sorry to be back. just in order to understand the rest cost, how many litres would i need if i do it? (over wallpaper)

If you go to the paint websites and click for product information it will tell you how many sq metres you can expect a given number of litres to cover. :)